Community Blog: Great Video Game Performances

Who deserves the best?

By
Calvin Khan

With awards season in full swing in Hollywood it's difficult to avoid talk about how great all those fabulous actors are in all those fabulous films. However, there's a lot of great acting hidden in the world of gaming that goes unnoticed. As technology has improved, actors are having to literally throw themselves into their roles with the likes of motion and performance capture. Therefore I thought I'd highlight some of the best performances in gaming, whether they be vocal performances or performances involving donning skin tight Lycra with magic balls attached to them.

Honourable Mention - Charles Martinet - Mario and Friends

'It's a me......middle aged guy.'

This mention may have you thinking that I'm not taking this seriously but Charles Martinent has been supplying the voice of Mario, along with Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Toadsworth and their baby counterparts for over twenty years. Whilst there's not much in the terms of dialogue in Mario games, it's difficult to think about any of these games without the "ah has" and the "oopsy diasies." Charles Martinent has brought warmth and charm to Mario's leading characters, making them that much more adorable. Also despite being American his vocal performances are used in all versions of the game, even the native Japanese versions. Surely that proves how admired and loved his performances are.

David Hayter - Snake

'Clearly the new Just for Men can cure eye injuries too.'

Last year there was uproar when it was announced the Snake in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid games was to be replaced by none other than Jack Bauer. Jack Bauer had never received such a frosty reception and clearly many fans were upset that David Hayter was no longer going to voice one of gaming's iconic characters. This demonstrated how much David Hayter's performance has become synonymous with Snake. Arguably his gravely delivery of Snake has a somewhat B movie feel but it fits perfectly for the Metal Gear Solid series. Even when Snake is relatively angry, his delivery has an air of experienced cool about it, as though he's done it all before. This couldn't be more suitable for a character who is more than happy to smoke a packet of cigarettes to detect laser trip beams. His performance is also one of the saving graces in those bum-achingly long cutscenes. I'm sure Kiefer Sutherland will do a good job but I hope they'll be a place for David Hayter in the series' future.

Ellen Page - Jodie

'I feel there's a joke to be said here about balls and faces but I'll rise above it.'

I'm aware this next entry maybe somewhat controversial, what with it being a game that itself has had a very mixed reception and the performance I'm talking about is that of bona-fide Hollywood actor. However, whatever you think of Beyond: Two Souls, Ellen Page's performance is very strong in it. Her performance especially stands out when you look at the delivery of some of the more clunkier lines of the script by her counterparts. Throughout her performance she fully commits herself to the plight of Jodie, a character who doesn't fit anywhere, making her surprisingly human despite the supernatural leanings of the script. Just look at the party scene early on, this is girl who is clearly vulnerable yet has the ability to turn on a knife's edge. Gamers are at times rightly suspicious when such big name actors attach themselves to such projects, but Ellen Page's involvement in Beyond Two Souls prove it can be successful.

Ellen McLain - GLaDOS

Blue, the colour of a cold heart, like GLaDOS.'

Everyone's favourite AI socio-path , GLaDOS, is one of the joys of the Portal games, constantly teasing us about how many pounds we have put on since our last visit. The script for GLaDOS is fantastic but it's Ellen McLain who really brings the sardonic wit to the character. There's almost the sense that the insults she keeps spewing out are both unintentional and intentional at the same time. It's as if she's using her lack of understanding of human emotion as her get out clause. Also we've been lucky enough to see GLaDOS evolve (admittedly only somewhat) as a character who can still reel off a scathing remark ,even during her most vulnerable. Portal 2 even hinted at her genesis and how she came to be and for a moment we felt sorry for a machine who only sees people as test subjects. This is testament to Ellen McLain's performance, which has been so popular that she was featured in Pacific Rim, although without the biting witticisms.

Nolan North - Nathan Drake

'Both were clearly surprised to be in this picture.'

Nolan North is a veteran video game voice actor; if you've played a game it's likely he voiced one of the main characters. All the characters he has voiced have always been great, even in mediocre games such as Dark Void. Of late he's been doing more interesting roles that show of his diversity such as The Penguin in the Batman Arkham games and David in The Last of Us. However, he's most well known for playing Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series. This is a role he naturally fits into; a charmer, who's just as likely to make a wise crack than a pop shot. He brings much needed likeability to a character who on paper could just be seen as character derived from other fiction. Despite this Nolan North makes us care for Nathan Drake and his tangled relationships. Along with the fantastic game design, it's what makes the Uncharted series such a joy to play. Hopefully we'll see him reprise the role once more in the newly announced Uncharted game.

Jennifer Hale and Oliver Vacquer - The Lutece Twins

'The most delicious question is....is this a chocolate coin?'

There are many great performances in Bioshock Infinite, most notably that of Elizabeth. However the breakout stars were clearly The Lutece Twins, who were the inter-dimensional glue that held Bioshock Infinite's convoluted plot together. Firstly, both actors put on a perfectly clipped British accent, which was just the right side of absurd to warrant a sense of mystery around the characters. Then there was the masterly delivery as the twins literally finished each others sentences. It also helps that they have some of the best lines in the script that just get better on repeated playthroughs. There's also a great chemistry between the two characters, which is obviously vital when portraying twins. Unfortunately it's unlikely we'll see them again but here's hoping they make an appearance in the Burial At Sea DLC that'll be released later in the year.

Troy Baker - Joel (and everybody else)

'Troy looks somewhat embarrassed about appearing in every video game ever. '

There is no voice actor in the video game industry who is working harder than Troy Baker at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a game released this year in which he voices every character. Maybe he'll become the announcer in the next gen version of Dead or Alive: Beach Volleyball. However there's a good reason he's appearing in so many games and that's because he's incredibly versatile. He even had the cojones to take on The Joker after Mark Hamill and still came out the other side with many praising his performance. However his stand out performance to date is that of Joel in The Last of Us. Here he delivers a performance that is grizzled yet encompasses a tenderness along with a brutal sense of survival.

It's a testament to Naughty Dog's prowess in providing the technology and the writing to deliver some of the most fascinating performances in gaming. Obviously, Ashley Johnson also delivers an equally fantastic performance as Ellie but it's the light and shade in Troy's performance which for me is fascinating to watch. It's only once it reaches its conclusion that we realise that this is Joel's story, a story that has been made all that more believable and gut wrenching due to a performance that balances big dramatic moments with subtler grace moments. It's a captivating performance in a captivating game and if this a glimpse of the future of video game performances, the future can't come quick enough.

So what do you think? What do you think are the best performance in video games? Do you think acting in video games is overly derided? Let me know in the comments below.